RAY TIPS

Ok i think its time for people to spill the beans
i,m fishing a bit in limerick these days and have come up with some interesting conclusions that have changed the way i fish on the shannon
beads and bling work ,ray are similar to flats as a bait moving with the current must be a more natural thing to eat ,and they like big pink dayglow leads
bring plenty of hooks !they swollow them down deep one in 5 might not
started using pully rigs but found a two or three foot long flapper with the swivell down 6 inches from the lead better unless casting over 100 yards .
most usefull bit of kit would be some gloves shannon ray are like feckin porkypines they are aso handy for hauling fish up so your shockleader doesnt slice through your fingers
i,m not saying my tips are the best but just thought they might help someone

i spilled the beans before and got abuse about it beads and bling dose work for ray,often said it before on here that baited mackerel feathers work,i am not getting involved in a big debate over that again

last year a few Germans were over here and when i rang to arrange to meet them the lad i rang had just cast feathers out in the kilary so he let them drop to the bottom while on the call and after a few mins a ray took the feather without bait

best way to hold the ray is up between the head and the tip of the wing,one spot you can grip there,its like a collarbone,i am sure you know the spot

ever see the pics of the boys up in fahan with ray - nearly always have beads on the rigs

horses for courses!

gf kelly i know the spot you talk of SOME ray have no thorns in that spot but not all as i found out in killybegs to my dismay ,two thumbs sliced down to the bone

It took a bit to find this one

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It took a bit to find this one

People have laughed at me in the past for using traces that looked like those in the pictures but i caught my biggest Ray (about 8.5lb) on such a trace.... Plus, as a bonus, along with the Ray i also had 2 Bullhuss which were around the 10lb mark each.... getting the 3 of them up and boating them was deffo what you would call a mission though....

Horses for courses for sure
Caught my fair share of ray and never had and bling
Just shows if they're feeding they'll take !!

I'm mad to catch a ray il defo be using these tips thanks lads

Rattling Boobie beads are another ive heard of, i got some but i keep forrgetting to use them recently, put em on a few traces but wasnt the right time to fish for ray........

Iv heard muppets just above a baited hooks will out fish just a baited hook every time , but to be honest iv had best results with a very simple sliding snood rig .

I use a simple pulley rig with a single 3/0 hook, making sure that the snood is fairly long so that the bait is a good distance from the grip lead. I find that sandeel tipped with a small bit of mackerel works well. I recently started to debarb my hooks when targeting ray as it makes their release much easier.

Squid cocktail

1 up and over rig 6ft snood size 4/0 hooks i dont see the point in using pulley rigs for ray
2 sand eel squid cocktail or plain squid if dogs are around
3 been capable of casting a baited trace over 120 yards
4 know the time of year they come in for the mark you want to fish
5 never put your fingers in a rays mouth unless you dont like your fingers
6 never hold a ray up by the tail if you intend on releasing the fish
7 know the different species of ray some can really fluck your day up
8 use 2 rods one cast out as far as you can and the other not so far cover the ground
9 do plenty of research
10 an hour before it gets dark on a flooding tide is prime hook up time
11 August to mid September are the best times of the year on the east
12 if you want to catch a ray with out all the hard work go west
13 If you go to reel in to change bait and it feels snagged let out some slack and leave the rod in the rest it could be a ray that has buried itself with your bait
14 PUT THEM BACK

my tips are for east coast ray fishing Wicklow Wexford

you're spot on Shane! A few alterations here for the Shannon Estuary:

6a bring a drop net for some locations, you wont regret it.
10a an hour before and 2hrs after sunrise can be great too.
14a yes, especially the females!

Holy god Shane h that's a lot of typing for you!you normally dont speak that much in a session never mind type it!!!!!

It was all bottled up inside me waiting for someone such as yourself to start a tread on ray fishing

great thread roger, and great info from everyone , be targeting ray soon out westy way, would 50lb snoods be advisable?as i see 30lbs are not up to the job sometimes

great thread roger, and great info from everyone , be targeting ray soon out westy way, would 50lb snoods be advisable?as i see 30lbs are not up to the job sometimes

40lb or 50lb snoods

so heading for ray in october down west, been told good chance of a stingray or 2 being around, with 5 of us fishing chances increase of one of us landing one , now i know what they look like, but apart from running down the beach screaming like a lil girl, gonna have to unhook it and put it back, whats the safest way for all involved to do this ? thanks

Turn the ray on its back so it's tail can't lash out at you